You can look at the previous “Sign of the Timez” by searching my profile for;
- Child of the Cave
- Were you there?
- Princess Hostage
- Gods bride
The magic book transported me through time once again. I was losing hope that it would ever send me home to 2020 where I belonged. This made me worry. My parents would be so worried that I was gone. They would think that I was kidnapped and something very bad had happened to me. They would probably think that I was dead. They would never know that I was being thrown around in history. I imagined mom and Dad grieving about me and missing me every day.
Now it seemed as if I was in some dark courtroom. The people looked like they will pilgrims at Thanksgiving. I was wearing a long dress with an apron and had a bonnet on my head. I had a wooden cross necklace. I looked around at the people in the courtroom. They were not working or doing what they had done in their daily lives. They thought what was happening here in the courtroom was important. It could also be because they had no TV, so this was entertainment for them.
A woman was being tried as a witch. Everyone was accusing her of all the bad things that happened to them. If this was true, then this woman would have been very busy. She was accused of making a lot of people sick, even women that had miscarriages. She was accused of the fact that there was no rain for ages and the farmers were worried about their crops. I knew that none of this could be true, but the people in the courtroom were angry. They thought that this woman sold her soul to the devil and was doing his work! I was confused and in shock. How could these people believe in witches?
The woman was found guilty and sentenced to death on the stake. She was dragged out while screaming that she was innocent and believed in Jesus. As she was tied to the stake, a stern old priest shouted at her to repent her sins and to deny Satan. The woman was hysterical by now and was still insisting that she was not a witch. Some men lit the fire and all we could hear was her screaming. I could also hear her praying until the only sound was the fire burning. Luckily the smoke was so thick that we could not see her being burnt alive. I do not think I will ever forget the screams. I have experienced a lot of evil and mean things in my time travels, and this was one of the most inhumane things I experienced.
My family took me home. We lived on a small farm and lived in a very small cottage. My mother was a plump lady that did not smile. While my father looked very old and tired. He smiled and seemed very jolly. I also had an older sister. This wasn't bad as I always wanted an older sister, and she reminded me of the sister I had when I was a cave girl. Maybe this family would not be so bad.
As mom and Dad were doing some things in the house, I sat outside with my older sister. I found out that her name was Maria. I also found out that she talked a lot. I could not get a word in. she talked about her dreams. Maria was tired of the strict life we had at home and wanted more than what a small farm could offer her. I could see that my sister was very spirited and knew how to have fun. She wanted romance and adventure. This made her very interesting and I loved listening to her. Maybe she was a dreamer and would never escape the life she was destined to in this small town, but ambition and dreams were what made us human.
I also found out it was 1693!
I do not know how long we spent talking, but Mom came and told us that it was time to do our chores. I was responsible for feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs from the hens. Then I had to help clean the cottage and help prepare food for supper. This is one thing I would learn about living in 1693, there was no time for play or to be idle. There was one chore after another. We were like servants. I could understand that Maria wanted to escape all this. One thing about constant chores is that when we went to bed, we nearly slept straight away. We were so tired.
Amazingly, I could sleep. The images of the burning at the stake and the screams from the woman plagued my mind. It was easy to blame someone when things did not go well. It was easy to say someone was a witch. They could not prove that they were innocent. It was hard for me to have the mindset of a girl that lived in 2020. I could never convince anyone that there were no such things as witches. I was only a child and they would never listen to me. I just hoped that I would not experience such inhumanity again, I had to wait until the magic book transported me to a better time.
We had to get up very early. We had a quick breakfast where mom scrubbed my face after. This hurt a lot as she scrubbed so hard. She was not gentle either when she fixed my hair. She tugged at it and didn’t care if the brush tore half my hair out. She would tell me that a clean child is a Godly child when I complained. After she fixed my hair so that it looked nice, she covered it with a bonnet. This was another thing I noticed in 1693, every inch of my body was covered.
Dad was not in a good mood. He was worried as it had not rained yet. It was an unusual summer that was very hot and it had not rained for a few months. This would worry any farmer, as they would wonder if their crops would die. If this happened, then how could he provide for his family? I wanted to console Dad somehow and make him smile. I asked him what I could do to help. He smiled at me and told me to pray and be one of God’s angels and not be tempted by the devil. This was not that hard to do. I had no intention of becoming the devil's friend. I could not misbehave either, as all the chores kept me so busy.
I hugged Dad, As I was hugging Dad, I could see his face become one that showed fear and he pushed me off of him. When I turned around, I could see the priest that was in the courtroom. He was a tall skinny priest that was completely bald. He looked very stern and it must have been decades since he last smiled. The only thing that I could think about was that he looked scary. It was as if he was from a horror movie.
“Spare the rod and spoil the child,” the priest said, “Your daughter does not need hugs. This bodily affection will just spoil her and corrupt her. It is your duty as parents to discipline her and keep her from the claws of Satan himself. You must make her a good Christian. She must learn to be obedient and hard-working. She must learn her place in God’s plan, where she will one day subdue herself to a husband and give birth to the next generation of Christians. Yes, you both have a responsibility to raise your children as the Church expects. Beware that spoiling them will just make them easy prey for the devil himself.”
I was speechless. How could affection and the love a parent can give spoil and destroy me? My real parents never spanked me or hurt me in any way. They gave me lots of hugs. They wanted me to be a happy and secure child. This priest wanted me to be raised in fear so I would be submissive and not have a mind of my own. This must explain why mom always was so strict and never showed any love. It was sad that she had to go through life without smiling and showing her feelings. I do not think that Jesus himself wanted children to live in fear with no love and affection. How would we ever know the love of Jesus if we never experienced love and compassion? Even in the Bible, Jesus always loved being with children and being like a kind loving Dad.
The priest was not finished. He asked me to name the 7 deadly sins. I had no clue what he was talking about so just looked down at the ground. I whimpered that there were bad sins and worse sins. This made him so mad as he accused me that I was neglecting my studies. Mom was not happy about my ignorance either and told the priest that she would make sure that I would know them by the end of the day. This seemed to please the priest. He had done his job. He exhibited his status and power during the visit.
When he went, Mom instructed Maria and me to sit. Then she recited the 7 deadly sins and told us to keep reciting them while we have done our chores. She would ask us before supper and if we did not know them, we would be going to bed hungry. She explained that fasting also cleansed the soul.
“You two are very young” she explained, “and I will not let Satan corrupt you. He will make you lazy and do immoral things. You will end up in Hell, where Satan and the demons will torture you for eternity. You will burn for eternity and be in constant pain and agony! This is a punishment for God because you were not a good Christian in this world. Listen to your elders and be obedient. This is your path to heaven”
I did all the chores that day and tried to remember the 7 deadly sins. When it was my turn to recite them, I could not remember them. In my defence, I did not understand what half of them meant. It was no use to explain this as I was sent to bed without anything to eat.
I cried myself to sleep. I was hungry and I did not want to be in this time- period. The early modern period seemed to be one of religious fear and fanaticism, as well as being so strict, that it was illegal to smile or have fun. I wanted to go home. All I could think of was a nice pizza followed by ice cream.
Dad found me crying and gave me an apple. He told me not to worry. He would do penance later
ns 15.158.61.4da2
